Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Shocked!

*Paotie, hold onto your Snoopy tattoo* Well, this just confirms it! Moms of deaf kids with cochlear implants are hot! If you are a hot young woman who has not yet had kids, watch out, your child will most likely be born deaf, destined for a ci. (Just add "hot mom" to the list of causes of deafness) *smile* As anyone who has ever read this blog knows, I am obsessed with the Pediatric Cochlear Implant Circle. I have been a member for one year, probably as of today, and the group has helped me bring out the hidden cheerleader in little, old me. Little did I know that the real cheerleader - I mean DALLAS COWBOY CHEERLEADER *gasp* (any little girl destined for hotness doesn't dream of being a ballerina, she dreams of becoming a DCC) is a very active mom on the Circle, Pamela!

It seems these days I've been running some kind of "tab" mentally.I guess the tab would be called "Things Ben can do with his CI that he Otherwise Couldn't"... but since that's slightly wordy, I'll go with "The Tab".I suppose I do this because like any rational adult, I want to keep a system of checks and balances in place that proves for us we made the right decision to have our son implanted.Like driving along while holding a conversation with a deaf four year old who sits squarely behind me, secured in a car seat. Sign language wouldn't work. Neither of us sees the other's face or hands as we drive all over town each week to preschool, art school, speech therapy. What a lot of wasted time if we couldn't talk about the number of porta-potties we see as we pass construction sites, or how trash littering a nearby field of wildflowers is "not good" for flowers, bugs and birds. Even more profound, the times just after I pick him up from school when the glow of holding a girl's hand is still fresh. I pull out of the school parking lot as he tells me, grinning, which little girl he held hands with that day.Just this week I sat there in awe of these amazing devices while Ben excitedly explained his day over the cell phone to his Dad.Holy cow!! How is this happening? Ben is profoundly deaf. But what is most mind blowing here? The fact this kid is using a cell phone without additional assistive technology? That he is speaking English (we are still working on clarity)? Or is it that he's filling his dad in on a day full of things that wouldn't have happened without cochlear implants?I say all of it! I am happily living a true life epic movie. Often tough, very challenging and yet... each day my son gives me another item for "The Tab."

When I congratulated her on her new blog and told her I was shocked to discover her true identity *grin*, this was her response:

"Ha! Sometimes it takes a little extra "Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader" pep just to get through the hard stuff... oh, and I don't mean deafness, CIs, etc... I mean a 4year old boy! Go team. :)

CI users actually feel sorry for other Deaf people who are able to speak and listen like CI users do. Parents of Deaf children with CI said, “Cochlear implants allow my children to function very normally in a hearing world.”

I often see some CI users have disliked the way their implants fed “environmental noises” into their heads.

It takes certain skills to sign and drive at the same time. Actually happens naturally for me. I've had many conversations with my parents and siblings in the car. Obviously it depends on the type of traffic and other factors. Not once did any of us had an accident because we were signing. knock on wood, though. :)

Jodi!Hot??!! I'll take that in a heart-beat! As far as signing in the car, --not even going to attempt it here on our Dallas tollways... It's hard enough to deal with ducking from & retrieving the flying sippy-cups for my toddler... while maintaining my hotness of course! ha! ~Pamela

Pamela...and let this be a warm and fuzzy welcome to the wonderful world of blogging - ducking flying sippie-cups is an art! But I'm sure you will manage it gracefully along the way *smile* Hugs and I'm looking forward to reading your blog...Jodi

LOL! I'm getting all sorts of question why I have pictures of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders on my computer at work :) I'm chuckling as I am reading this entire post LOL! No one would understand if I tried to explain!

Now, I have a little favor from all you "hot mom's" with deaf kids out there :) Would you could go over to Brianna's Journey, Brianna's mom created this blog because she is having her first cochlear implant surgery this coming Tuesday and she needs support, especially from moms that have been there. Would you mind popping over there and dropping a few words of wisdom? I would really totally appreciate it!

Pamela.....you really have some misconceptions about sign language and driving. We sign all the time in the car with our deaf child....it isn't rocket science....you just adapt simple as that. Just like when the room is filled with loud music or crowds of people and you are trying to hear a conversation.....you adapt. And by the way what is "normal" anyways?

Hi there Anon~Nope, no misconceptions here. I have a 4 year old in a car seat (that he'll be in for 2 more years) sitting directly behind me. He cannot see around my seat; he can't see the steering wheel; can't see the road directly in front of me; can't see my entire face in the review mirror. Conversely, I can't see what in the world he's up to back there either. --Oh wait, I can see about 1/4 of his face as I drive along. He's constantly trying to show me stuff, a page he's reading, a car he's playing with but I can't see it, unless he holds it way up into the reflection of the mirror. Kids don't move into front seat here in Texas until what, 11 years old or so... Guess we'll make do with our CI-powered conversations... they work for us.

Grazie! 125,000+

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